This year, I have been preaching through the book of Genesis’ accounts of the lives of the Patriarchs of the Jewish faith. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are considered to be the founders of the Jewish faith and the starting point for God dealing with humanity in the Bible. All of those men had something in common: they were all sojourners. Sojourners are people who live in a land that isn’t theirs amongst people who are not their own people. In the ancient world, sojourners had no rights or legal protections. In addition, they were limited in their ownership of land, which was a huge deal for the ancient world. Abraham had a homeland, but when God called, he left home and lived in the land where Israel now is. God promised to give that land to his descendants, but made it clear that Abraham would live there as a foreigner. Another thing that they all have in common is that each of them faced famine. Seasons without rain or where various factors ruined the food supplies in the ancient world were quite common and the land of Israel is a big, rocky desert. Famine was a serious and difficult thing. For all the of the patriarchs, when famine hit God allowed them to leave for more hospitable places. Egypt was the most common place to go because the Nile river guaranteed good crops and plenty of water most years. There was one exception to that escape from famine. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was told by God that he was not to leave. Instead, God had him stay in the desert during a famine. He had to do the hard thing, which none of the other patriarchs had to face. The crazy thing is that in the midst of difficulty, God took care of Isaac. His crops were very successful, his herds grew year after year, and eventually his wealth and power become so much that the natives of the land asked him to move along. They didn’t stop there. After asking Isaac to move away, they followed him and harassed him continually. Life was difficult for Abraham’s son and made more so by the hostilities of his neighbors. The interesting thing about Isaac in all of this is that he responds in a mature way. He assumes God will take care of him wherever he goes, so he just moves. When the locals demand ownership of a well he dug, he gives it to them and discovers water somewhere else. He is mature and meek and obedient to God. The thing is that he was not that way in the beginning of his story. Time in difficulty and learning to trust God changed him. The advantage of living through hard times where we have to rely on God is that we learn to trust Him and grow as a result. Hardship matures us in ways that comfort cannot.
While studying Isaac, I realized something interesting: God making Isaac live through difficulty was a blessing. He grew and matured. He became something more because he had to learn to trust God. I am not saying it was easy or fun. I have no doubt it was neither easy nor fun. It was a blessing because growing closer to our Creator is a blessing. This is why the book of James says that we should consider it pure joy when we face trials of every kind, because trials produce strength in our faith and train us to trust God over the long haul. That growth and maturing cannot be acquired any other way. No one likes difficult seasons in life, but if we use the time to learn to lean on and trust God, they can make us into who God created us to be. It is all a matter of how we handle those times.
